Re: PCN Hardiness

At 12:09 PM 98-02-09 -0700, Timothy Hall wrote:
>1. I ordered and received some PCN seeds from CA this January
>unfortunately they were exposed to -5 F in the mail. I went ahead and
>seeded them indoors but after 2 weeks I see no signs of germination.
>Were they destroyed by the cold or am I just impatient?
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Impatient I think. I doubt that the freezing would harm the seeds. In any
event the wait can be much longer than two weeks.
>
>2. I live in Zone 5 Is there any chance I can winter PCN's through
>here or am I wasting my time?
Most advice is that PCNs will not survive East of the Cascades and I spent
a portion of the family fortune proving the experts were correct.
I later decided to try seeds and have been pleasantly surprised that they
not only live here but thrive. During their first winter the temperature
was -32C for several days. This was tempered by about a foot of fluffy snow.
For some reason, when grown from seed, they seem capable of adapting to
alien environments. Having said that, I should also say that in some ways,
our siituation may mimic their natural niche fairly well. Cold winters with
snow, light soil and hot dry summers. The fact remains, however, that ALL
plants which I have bought have died, while these seedlings almost grow by
themselves with no fuss.
I don't think you are wasting your time and neither will you when you see
them bloom.
>
>3. Will Cal-Sibes do OK here, and if so is any work being done on
>trying to develop a fertile hybrid of these two species?
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Should be no trouble.
Good luck
John Montgomery
monashee@junction.net
Vernon BC Zone 5